"Every scripture is God's breath…" (2 Tim 3:16–17).

Twelve Reasons Why Atheism Cannot Explain Reality

This worldview gets hit and trampled quickly. The weapons of the faithful are powerful in destroying the walls of opposition. The knowledge of God destroys the lofty arguments that rise high and fall hard. Christ captivates (2 Cor 10:3–6).

Purpose — Atheism cannot perceive an ultimate purpose for humankind and the universe. Without God, no ultimate purpose exists. Without God, humanity would eventually cease to exist, the stars would go dark, the universe would become cold, and the galaxies would drift into space forever. The universe alone gives no purpose to life. However, the universe is anthropic — habitable for conscience life and intelligent observation. Why? Life’s purpose is beyond the universe and its very beginning. The best explanation for the ultimate purpose of life comes from its origin — from its Creator.

Morality — Atheism is limitless in moral boundaries, and thereby, secularists can invent their own morality. Such subjective morality increases moral corruption. Societies and individuals can set their own moral definitions and limits without an objective standard. However, most people live by some sense of fairness that they expect others already to know. Because people can corrupt their moral consciences, humanity needs an objective moral standard as a corrective. However, atheism denies the only plausible objective standard for morality. Secularism can only support subjective morality from either society, instinct, or self. Furthermore, subjective morality is self-centered by definition while objective morality is selfless. Without God, there are no objective moral values. However, objective moral values exist. Therefore, God exists. There are behaviors that are absolutely right or wrong. God is the objective moral standard and His special revelation is the moral corrective for humanity.

Motives — Secularism assumes unbiased neutrality and yet excludes other plausible explanations that include recognizing a transcendent Cause — the Creator God. Any person who disregards or reinterprets reality for the purpose of rejecting God is not honest. Neutrality cannot dismiss the Creator and remain honest. Atheistic worldviews are free from an objective corrective of motives. Therefore, subjective morality alone thrives in secularism and is self-centered by nature. Secularism ignores and atheism denies the only plausible moral corrective who is God. Subjective morality allows people to set their own morals and then invest in potentially meaningless ventures and destructive innovations for the purposes of euthanasia, abortion, and genocide. Humanity’s universal sense of fairness demonstrates a transcendent moral corrective of motives — who is God. The God-given conscience and God’s moral standard motivates humanity toward respecting life, acting with compassion, and saving lives.

Virtue — Secularism cannot define love or any virtue. Secularism cannot explain the origin of constant virtues or how such moral principles can exist without a person to possess these virtues. Atheism implies that love did not always exist when no one existed to possess the virtue of love. The atheistic position holds that one loves others through survival instinct and, or social construct. The conscience that holds that constant virtues exist like love also require that some person always exist and possess such virtues. Therefore, God must exist as the always existing person who always possesses virtue. God’s nature defines moral virtues. Virtue can neither be greater than God nor have been contrived by God, but must exist as a part of eternal nature of the triune God. Only God can love in three persons beyond human and angelic existence.

Rights — Secularism disregards and atheism undermines humanity’s equality and unalienable rights. If there is no Creator, there are no unalienable rights. However, humanity’s universal sense of fairness establishes the existence of certain unalienable rights — objective moral behavior toward others. These rights are entitlements that people owe to others. Human rights exist according to constant virtues and objective morality. Unalienable rights require the existence of the Creator as the moral standard. Secularism ignores that God made humanity in His likeness and decreases humanity’s value to a product of nature. Secularism does not recognize faith in God and thus cannot defend the rights and liberty of others who believe they are “under God.” Atheistic worldviews disregard that people trust in the Creator, and thus atheism is impotent to comprehend, regard, and defend religious liberties. Atheism undermines the human conviction to stand for life and liberty.

Reason — Atheistic thinking hinders individuals from reasoning beyond assumptions of naturalism. Naturalism presupposes that all things exists via nature. Likewise, scientism asserts that science is the only reliable way to know something, yet science cannot prove science without circular reasoning by first assuming science is reliable. Science also presupposes logic, yet science cannot prove logic. Secularists may use reason without considering the origin of reason. How can the laws of logic exist outside the mind? If the laws of logic cannot begin without the laws of logic, then the laws of logic are eternal. If logic cannot exist without the mind, then an eternal mind must exist. Objective logic exists as an eternal constant and yet among fallible human minds. Where was logic before humanity? Objective logic requires an objective mind, which must also be constant and eternal. Furthermore, if cognitive ability is reliable, then cognitive ability must result from design. If cognitive ability does not result from design, then one must suppose that cognitive ability came through survival and is susceptible to lies that are necessary for survival. Therefore, if cognitive functions evolved, people most probably accept some lies needed for survival. For this reason, naturalists cannot trust one’s own cognitive ability, brain, mind, and thoughts. Cognitive ability is only reliable when the mind is from design and God is the Creator.

Causation — Atheistic thought detaches thinking from self-evident truths of the Creator. Naturalism cannot explain causation and the beginning of the expansion of the universe. Thereby, naturalism hinders the study of causation in cosmology. Naturalists usually reject the cause of the universe beyond space-time of the universe. However, everything that begins to exist has a cause. Furthermore, everything in the universe began to exist and thus the universe began. Because the universe is expanding and its usable energy is decreasing, the universe had a beginning. Therefore, since the universe began, the universe must have a cause. That cause must extend beyond the universe and is thus supernatural.

Science — Secularism bypasses the definition of science, which is “knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation” (M-W.com). Naturalism asserts an explanation without observation for abiogenesis, evolution of genera, and a singularity of the universe’s expansion. However, the lack of observation and experiments cannot support and explain origin of the universe and life. By definition, abiogenesis, evolution of genera, and the expansion of the universe from a singularity is not science but plausible possibilities based on a contrived paradigm. In other words, naturalism does not stand on science but on an atheistic worldview. Truly, observations indicate a beginning and cause to the order of the universe and life. Furthermore, naturalism includes very little about why biology is more complex than human design. The best explanation for any system more complex than design is that it is a product of design. Biology is more complex than human design. Therefore, the best explanation for biology is that it is a product of design. The best explanation for science is that God created the universe and its life.

Compatibility — Secular “science” observes and recognizes the fine-tuning of cosmological constants that allows life, but secularism cannot explain its existence and cause of an inhabitable universe. Secularism cannot account for over 200 factors that allow the habitability of life on a planet. Naturalism does not fully apply the anthropic principle that the observations of the universe is compatible with human life. The best explanation for a compatible universe is an intentional order for observation of intelligent life.

Revelation — Secularists can imagine a being from another world creating humanity and yet exclude God from creating humanity in His likeness. Atheists can imagine a being communicating to people from another planet, yet atheism excludes recognizing God who communicates to humanity from beyond the universe. Secularists can envision a mindless multiverse generator but refuse to consider a mindful Creator of the universe. Humanity cannot know God’s reasoning through secular philosophy. However, the Creator of the universe can communicate with His creation through language. Language consists of the complexity of design, and humanity consists of the ability to communicate via language.

History — Secularists must reinterpret Jesus to exclude God. They perceive with the origin of the first Christians as an unexplained phenomenon. Secularism begins by dismissing historical facts about Jesus. The first believers professed the early Christian tradition that Jesus rose from the dead. From the beginning, the apostles’ case for Jesus’s resurrection relied on predictive prophecies, Jesus’s empty tomb, and experiences of eyewitnesses seeing Jesus bodily risen from the dead (Acts 2; 13; 1 Cor 15:1–11). Unbelievers lean upon ad hoc possibilities to explain Jesus in history. However, an appeal to possibility is a logical fallacy. Inventing possibilities does not consider the most probable and plausible explanation. Many unbelievers avoid thinking about why Christians exist and how the church first came to exist. Secular historians recognize that the first believers experienced appearances of Jesus risen from the dead. Their belief that they experienced Jesus risen from the dead established the church. These Christians did not perceive Jesus as an apparition, dream, or feeling, but that they experienced and sincerely believed that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. Secularism hinders an a historical picture of Jesus even while admitting basic facts surrounding Jesus’s death. The Gospel is the earliest Christian record of those who first doubted, opposed the faith, and came to believe by experiencing Jesus risen from the dead. Critical scholars date the record to the first believers to AD 30–36 (1 Cor 15:1–11; Gal 1:12–2:12).

Reality — Atheistic thinking detaches people from reality. They cannot recognize, honor, or thank God while suppressing the truth. Working from the framework of naturalism, atheism limits a person’s ability to consider and accept facts. Secularism dulls the sight of a person’s worldview and excludes any greater reality. Subjective morality darkens one’s understanding and allows lusts to take people from the truth. Therefore, the only way for secularists to test their worldview is by conscientious conflict, recognizing God in creation, conviction of the Holy Spirit, repenting from sins, and believing the gospel of Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. Next, repentant believers can united in Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection (Rom 6:3–5; Col 2:12–13).

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Published by Scott J Shifferd

Scott J Shifferd believes in sharing the gospel of Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection so that the faithful will bodily resurrect to eternal life like Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15). Scott is an evangelist at the Dean Road church of Christ in Jacksonville, FL. He has a BA and MA in Biblical Studies. He is a husband and a father of four children. Anyone can contact Scott at ScottJon82[at]yahoo.com.
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